College Football’s 5th Quarter: The 2018 coaching carousel continues
5. Charlie Weis Jr. to FAU
Lane Kiffin is a bold man. Coach Kiffin likes to bait Nick Saban, the legendary Alabama Crimson Tide coach, on Twitter with memes and snarky jabs. He moved out of Knoxville in the middle of the night akin to the Colts leaving Baltimore, and now he’s hired 24-year-old Charlie Weis Jr. to be his offensive coordinator.
The 24-year-old Weis Jr. is the son of semi-retired football coach Charlie Weis. The elder Weis made his bones as the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots for three of their Super Bowl victories between 2000-2004. He then became the head football coach at Notre Dame and Kansas as well as serving stints as offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs and Florida Gators in between.
Weis Jr. has had a different path, at least from what we know about him. He served as an analyst under Lane Kiffin at Alabama where he also worked under Nick Saban. He was part of the Crimson Tide’s national title coaching staff in 2015, and the Atlanta Falcons’ Super Bowl-losing squad in 2017 working under Kiffin’s friend, Steve Sarkisian, who met Weis Jr. during their stint together in Tuscaloosa.
Sure, Weis Jr. is young and will only be maybe twelve months older than a handful of his players. However, Kiffin believes in going with a youth movement, and he believes in hiring legacy coaches and family friends. Lane is himself a legacy coach as the son of longtime defensive coach Monte Kiffin, a Super Bowl Champion from his days in Tampa Bay working under Jon Gruden. Lane also has employed his own brother Chris Kiffin, as well as his father Monte, and Kendal Briles, son of former Baylor Bears coach Art Briles.
Weis Jr. could turn out to be a flop but college football pundits around the internet all know it’s Kiffin’s offense and Weis Jr. is just filling up the gas tank, not driving the car. Kiffin learned some of the Briles system from the younger Briles and now can give that knowledge to Weis Jr., who already has learned the system from both Lane himself and Sarkisian in Atlanta.